Wrexham 1 NFU 0 (NL)

Wrexham 1
Izale McLeod 29

North Ferriby United 0

Half time: 1-0

Ferriby went down to a narrow defeat at The Racecourse. However, they were grateful to a very good performance by keeper Rory Watson to keep the Wrexham score to one. The Welsh side always looked dangerous when attacking. Sadly, Ferriby did not carry the same degree of threat.

Ferriby started well enough with Connor Oliver having a shot blocked on the 18 yard line and Curtis Bateson seeing a shot blocked for a corner by a defender, both within 30 seconds of each other.

The first-half continued reasonably end-to end but Ferriby made little headway in the final third of the field. Reece Thompson, Danny Emerton and Bateson worked hard but they could find little space against a resolute Wrexham defence.

Izale McLeod was a constant threat in attack with his movement and strength. He was ably supported throughout the game by Anthony Barry and Paul Rutherford as Wrexham looked to go forward.

It was Rutherford who almost opened the scoring with a shot that curled just wide after 23 minutes. Four minutes later Watson turned round a low shot from John Rooney.

The only goal came after 29 minutes and it was one worthy of winning a game. Barry fed Mcleod and his first-time shot curled just inside the post. It was really an unstoppable effort but Watson was close to getting a hand on it.

Ferriby struggled to get good balls up the front. Too often passes were misplaced and overhit and promising moves came to nothing. Connor Oliver was producing some good work in midfield, breaking-up attacks and trying to prompt Ferriby forward.

The Villagers were thankful to Watson on the stroke of half-time when he got down well to take a shot from Rooney.

The second-half largely belonged to Wrexham. They offered even more goal threat in this half than in the first. Ferriby had a good spell around the middle of the half in which they forced Wrexham back but only managed to bring one save from home keeper Chris Dunn. That came from a Sam Topliss shot that was deflected by a defender forcing Dunn in to a good reaction save.

Ferriby battled well in midfield and the defence was solid but pressing forward with any real threat proved difficult.
Watson produced five good saves during the half to frustrate Wrexham. A number of other goal attempts went close but The home side could not find a goal that would clinch the game.

The introduction of loan-signing Matthew Templeton injected a little more pace and urgency up front and there was always the hope that The Villagers could snatch a goal and gain a point.

As has so often been the case this season, Ferriby played well enough but struggled to create scoring chances. Once again it was a spirited performance and it is frustrating to see the players put in so much effort for little reward.

Steve Housham commented,

“We can’t really complain about the result. The first 15 minutes were even and we did well. Once again, we struggled in the final third of the pitch. They scored an excellent goal to win the game and we could nt match that.

“Overall, we played with our usual spirit and determination and it’s frustrating for the players to give everything for no reward.

“As I’ve said before, we’ll dust ourselves and go again next week at Southport. The season is far from over and we are still doing better than many predicted. We can take some pride from that.”